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Yes, It Is Halftime In America – So Now Is The Time To Get Your Financial Priorities In Order

By Michael Snyder, on February 6th, 2012

Did you see the Chrysler commercial featuring Clint Eastwood that aired during the Super Bowl the other night? It was entitled “It’s Halftime In America”, and it was truly a great ad. To me, it was the most memorable Super Bowl ad this year by far. It conjured up images of the America that so many of us remember so fondly. It reminded us of how life in this country used to be. Unfortunately, America is currently headed down a road that is taking us in the opposite direction. Yes, it is halftime in America, but there is no guarantee that what is ahead is going to be great. In fact, if we continue to make the same choices that we have been making, a national nightmare is inevitable. Let us hope and pray for a fundamental change of direction for America, but let us also prepare for what is going to happen if that does not take place. There is a “pause in the action” at the moment, so now is the time to get your financial priorities in order. Now is the time to prepare for the storm that is coming. If you wait until the storm is right on top of you it will probably be too late.

But I must admit that I really loved that ad. First of all, any Super Bowl ad that includes Clint Eastwood is almost automatically going to be a great ad. Secondly, it was very refreshing to see a commercial address some of the very serious problems that this country is facing.

The ad ended with Eastwood making the following statement….

“This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Ya, it’s halftime in America, and our second half is about to begin”

Kudos to Chrysler for producing such an extraordinary ad. I have to admit that I actually prefer Chrysler to Ford and GM. I like their style and I think they make some very nice vehicles.

But Chrysler is far from out of the woods. They almost went under during the last recession, and if the U.S. economy experiences another major recession they might not survive it.

Yes, Chrysler did earn $183 million in 2011.

But in 2010, Chrysler lost $652 million.

Hopefully Chrysler can string a few more profitable years together, but there is certainly no guarantee that is going to happen.

As I have written about previously, the U.S. auto industry is in the midst of a nightmarish long-term decline.

The combined U.S. market share of the “Big Three” U.S. automakers fell from 70% in 1998 to 53% in 2008.

When you examine the numbers over a longer time frame, they are even more striking.

For example, in 1970 General Motors had about a 60 percent share of the U.S. automobile market, but today that figure is down to about 20 percent.

In an effort to cut costs, U.S. automakers have been eliminating jobs and sending jobs out of the country.

In the year 2000, the U.S. auto industry employed more than 1.3 million Americans. Today, the U.S. auto industry employs about 698,000 people.

So the U.S. auto industry has not exactly bounced back.

They have survived for now, but there is no guarantee that this is going to be permanent.

Many considered the Chrysler Super Bowl ad to be an endorsement of the auto bailouts and of the economic policies of the Obama administration.

But that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it turns out that Clint Eastwood was actually a harsh critic of the auto bailouts as Reuters recently noted….

“We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies,” actor, director and Academy Award winner Eastwood told the Los Angeles Times in November 2011. “If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO.”

And Clint Eastwood certainly did not mean to endorse Obama during the commercial. The following is what Eastwood told Fox News about the ad….

“I just want to say that the spin stops with you guys, and there is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain.

l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK.”

The cold, hard reality of the matter is that America has not “bounced back” since 2008. Sadly, the truth is that we are even in worse condition than we were back then….

But it won’t last long. As the economy crumbles his approval rating will start going down once again.

The sad truth is that America is in the middle of a long-term economic decline because our economy is not built on a solid foundation.

The false prosperity that we are enjoying now is being fueled by the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world. We consume far more wealth than we produce, and we pay for it by constantly going into more debt.

At some point the merry-go-round is going to stop and when it does it is going to be incredibly painful.

An increasing number of Americans are waking up to this reality. One recent survey found that 61 percent of all Americans believe that there will be “a major catastrophic event” in the United States within the next 20 years. A significant portion of them believe that the “catastrophic event” will be economic in nature.

That same survey found that only 15 percent of all Americans feel as though they are completely prepared for the coming catastrophic event.

Remember what happened back in 2008. When the financial crisis struck, millions of Americans lost their jobs very rapidly. Since many of them did not have any money stored up, a lot of them lost their homes as well.

Since it is “halftime in America”, now is the time to get prepared for the next great financial crisis.

Now is the time to reduce your expenses.

Now is the time to get out of debt.

Now is the time to set aside some money so that you will have something to live on if you do happen to lose your job. I typically recommend that you have at least 6 months of living expenses stored up.

Now is the time to start a side business. Even if you are broke, there are some businesses out there that you can start up for no money. It isn’t easy to start a business with no money, but it can be done.

Now is the time to grow a garden. Fruits and vegetables are often some of the most expensive items at the grocery store, and by growing them yourself you become less dependent on the system.

And that is the key. We all want to try to become less dependent on the system.

There is no guarantee that your job will always be there.

There is no guarantee that your insurance company or the financial institutions that you are working with today will always be there.

There is no guarantee that the government will be there “to save you” when you really need it.

Yes, it is halftime in America.

So get ready for the second half, because it is going to be a real nightmare.

Michael, this is another good article.
It makes me want to ask the question: What we should be watching for?
Greece has deadlines in March, I think. Surely we need to keep an eye on the Euro zone.
What else? 10 year bonds? Stock market? Housing markets? Big Banks? The Fed?
If you are anticipating something, let us know what to be watching! Thanks for all your hard work on our behalf.

Michael

Watch Greece.

Watch European bond yields.

And definitely watch for problems in the derivatives markets.

Michael

MikeR

What should we watch for in the derivatives market? My friend works for Bank of America. He Handel’s a decision that loans money to other banks over night. He said BoA is in panic mode since some UK banks is seeking a three fold increase in their interest rates to other banks. They also want to be able to change this rate weekly instead of the current bi-annual. Thoughts?

Pechez

Michael,

What about the chances of the US Dollar no longer being the World Reserve Currency and Countries buying their oil in Gold rather than US dollars? Should we be worried about that? What about countries dumping our bonds or no longer buying them do you have concerns about that and how it will affect the dollar?

Thanks for all the articles you write the effort you must put in is greatly appreciated.

Michael

Yes, I believe that at some point the U.S. dollar will no longer be the reserve currency of the world and that will be very bad for us.

I have been meaning to do an article about that some time.

So much to do and so little time.

Michael

mondobeyondo

It’s already happening.

REED RICHARDS

Michael,

I understand what Clint was trying to do and I do applaud his efforts. But it is long past halftime for amerika. It is midway through the fourth quarter with time running out. The high tide of empire is running rampant and only a full stop and reversal of course will save the people.

Unless Obama and Merkozy succeed in breaking Iran’s Central Bank, war on Iran will be inevitable. As for Syria, the asylum states will find the necessary traitor(s) in Syria in order to take Assad out of the equation permanently……….

Paul

Watch the weather and the influenza statistics of the health service. SARS started in February and lasted till April.

Make sure you have everything you need within arm length. Even if it is only raining and the snow is melting there is no need to get your shoes wet if it isn’t absolutely necessary.

And watch the situation in Iran and Syria. Oil and gas prices might go up further. Brent Oil is rising for two weeks now.

Get yourself a smartphone with apps that work without being connected to the Internet all the time. Have your local suppliers database on that smartphone. With their best prices of the goods you need.

Have a backup ready for the time when GPS is shut off to civilian users.

Sunday

You should be watching for signs Christ gave us that point to His soon return.

jsmith

Yes it’s a great ad! But I bet the majority of those people leaving the stadium got into their Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, and Mercedes Benzes!
When you buy foreign products you put an American worker out of his job. When enough Americans are out of their jobs, it puts “you” out of your job. And this is where we are now. There is no hope.

Anthony

Then American companies should make better cars.

BenjiK

I’ve been self-employed most of my adult life having my hands in everything from the automotive aftermarket and home-construction to logistics and logging. However, the majority of my focus has been in the construction and timber trade. Traditionally my income has been the product of new-construction, remodeling, custom woodwork and the sale of timber to saw mills for lumber production. Sadly, the majority of my (diminishing) business now consists of foreclosure repair and maintenance on the construction side and almost all of the timber I now cut is sold as firewood, as the lumber prices are now sitting at historic lows. On the construction front, quality work has taken a back seat to the lowest bidder, with the majority of calls related to only the most essential of repairs. So while I agree starting a business is feasible and generally a good idea, be prepared to fight, DIVERSIFY and become the very best salesperson you can be in this tough economy. Sometimes I think it would be easier to sell a ketchup-popsicle to a woman in white gloves!

Good luck everyone, and best wishes to all!

Dr. Detroit

Yes I think this commercial represents the hellhole Detroit well laugh

Craig

I don’t know if we’re allowed to post links to other blogs, but Charles Smith hit it out of the park with this one. He basically says that the politicians and the American people just want to tweak our problems and not really fix them. He says it will be bread and circuses till the end. It makes perfect sense. This is why the American people are voting for folks like Romney and Gingrich. The American people don’t want to have to make any personal sacrifice to turn AMerica around.

Example:
Young man gets his girlfriend pregnant. It is now much easier for him to give her $500 to get an abortion than to give her $500 every month for the next 18 years to support the child. We’ve lost 50 million of our own people this way. So, it’s the American people that are spoiled. There is no political solution.

Michael for those us who have a little savings in a checking account. Should we pull our money out now or should we wait? I fear the term you guys use bank holiday.

Michael

Rodster:

I wouldn’t be concerned about that in the short-term. But when you look down the road a few years, then that will become a concern.

Michael

Cinderella Man

Dude, Michael Ford is way better than Chrysler! At least Ford is an American owned company not like Fiat owned Chrysler and Government Motors! I dont care about what the Ford family did in the past almost every vehicle Ive owned has been a Ford! I think it’s past halftime though, I think we’re in the 4th quarter with about 12:35 left on the clock. I like what BenjiK said the other day about his family friend saying he has never seen markets shrug off bad news like this. I concur! Something tells me that we’re about to see 2008 all over again. The Giants beat the Patriots again, Gas is on its way back to $4 again, the banking sector is on the edge again, and I think Obama will get elected again. Season 2 of life with Barry begins! I have lost hope that he will be defeated. There are way too many stupid sheep in this country that will believe anything that they hear on teLIEvision, dumbed down by schools and fluoride, too many on food stamps, too many getting flat screen tvs from tax returns they dont deserve, too many free phones, and too many warmongers that will stupidly rally around the flag to destroy Iran, and dont care that the TSA molests their daughters! I give up! Im going to look out for the ones I care about and be ready for the final act that is 2012! Goodnight and Good luck!

tappedops

“And it looks like a last ditch hail Mary CDO/CDS bomb into the endzone… thats looking like 1.4 quadrillion dollar pass… is in the air…its long enough…ohhhhh… too bad , looks like a QE3/fed-rez touchback… what a tough break for team amerika…”

VegasBob

It’s way past halftime, Michael.

The economic environment in this country is more like sudden death overtime, despite all the feel-good lies about jobs and the economy.

The fact is that our economic competitors have the ball on our 5 yard line, it’s first and goal, and what’s left of our defense is a group of second-stringers.

VyseLegend

I felt strong gag reflex when this commercial aired. I don’t see how Mr. Eastwood could get behind this if he had any real notion of what was going on with the economy. In fact you must be pretty much brain dead to believe its ‘halftime in America’ in any good sense. Its pretty disingenuous to get an American icon to represent an essentially fraudulent message. Even if they only did it for money, the whole thing reeks of dishonesty. What is going to happen to all the people who believe this magical thinking when there is a bank holiday and no food left on the shelves?

McKinley Morganfield

I’ve long admired Eastwood as an icon through his films and his ability to be outside the usual Hollywood fawning over politics as usual, but I found this ad insulting. Chrysler (GM too) should not have been bailed out. They should have been dumped on the rubbish heap of history much like American Motors. This is not how a free capitalistic market works. Businesses that make poor choices fail. When that is allowed to happen, parts that are viable are picked up by investors and a new company is formed from the ashes. That which is junk is sold for a penny on the dollar.

I resent Chrysler & GM and the Obama take over that left bond holders with zero and the unions with a sweet heart deal. This is not how bankruptcy is supposed to happen. Bond holders, those who bought bonds with the promise of eventual pay off with interest, got absolutely nothing. Now, who but Bernanke, is fool enough to buy a Chrysler or GM bond? Both companies are being propped up by “cash for clunkers” and DC buying their products for the federal auto pool. Personally, I will never again buy either company’s products. I’m a used Ford man all the way.

nowwthen

You sound like you learned everything you know about the bailouts of Chrysler and GM from Hannity, Cavuto and Limbaugh. What kind of stupid ideaology can hold that the country would be better off if a million or so tax paying employees were put on unemployment? More food stamps, another million collecting 99 weeks of unemployment, more foreclosures, a giant step toward the loss of our country’s manufacturing base would be some of the additional damage done to our economy. And don’t forget about the independent parts suppliers that depend on GM and Chrysler to buy their products.
The armaments that came out of those companies during WW2 helped win the war. Planes, tanks, ordnance etc. could never have been produced in adequate quantities without converting the GM, Ford and Chrysler plants into munitions factories. You might want to think for yourself instead of regurgitating the purely anti-union criticism you hear from people who might call you a RINO if you break ranks for the sake of common sense.
I didn’t vote for Obama and I won’t in November but you better believe that if GM and Chrysler went out of business the same anti-union fanatics who criticize the auto bailouts would be howling about how two stalwart American icons, pillars of our manufacturing base, were victims of this administration’s policies.

McKinley Morganfield

I don’t listen to talk radio. Instead, I study economic history. Chrysler was bailed out in the 1980s. Gosh, that certainly worked out well. BTW, I’m not anti-union. Chrysler & GM made unwise deals with the unions and made many other bad moves. The fault lies with the executives and the boards of both companies.

“The armaments that came out of those companies during WW2 helped win the war. Planes, tanks, ordnance etc. could never have been produced in adequate quantities without converting the GM, Ford and Chrysler plants into munitions factories.”

What does that have to do with 2009 and the aborted bankruptcy of these two mismanaged companies? Answer: Absolutely nothing.

nowwthen

You know, this is a discussion that could go on for hours. Let me first take the politics out of it by agreeing that that executives and boards made some very bad decisions both in policy and product. Unions are not entirely exempt from blame either and probably should have scaled back some of their demands when they saw the writing on the wall. Bond holders definitely got screwed and I must admit to feeling some cognitive disonance in trying to justify that. But the positive outcome was the continuation of operations with a good many of the long time workers (who had no input as to decision making and who would have been viewed as collateral damage) keeping their jobs. These workers are now paying income tax rather than becoming another burden upon an already overloaded “safety net”.

Chrysler and GM are paying back loans and, if we ever manage to rewrite some sanity into our tax code, will be a source of revenue for years to come. You mention Chrysler’s 1980 government loans. Those loans were paid back with interest ahead of schedule and for 39 years tens of thousands continued to raise their kids, pay their mortgages and otherwise continue living middle class lives thanks to those loans that turned out to be a net benefit for Uncle Sam. I hope this round of bailouts is as successful.

It’s funny, you never heard much about all the government money that was channeled into the foreign manufacturers to help them move their competing factories to our country. Toyota, Nissan and BMW have recieved huge tax abatements and other incentives over the years. Some of the most outspoken critics of the auto bailouts were politicians from states where many of these foreign factories are located; people like Richard Shelby of Alabama and Mitch McConnel of Kentucky. It is a very good thing that all those jobs for Americans were created but you have to acknowledge the inconsistency.

Much of the commentary on this board is critical of the job losses our country has experienced over the last decade or so. Unions such as the UAW have attempted to address the issue by negotiating agreements such as the JOBS bank program that was never intended to have workers be paid for staying home. The goal was to discourage employers from outsourcing U.S. jobs to foreign labor because they would be contractually obliged to maintain their labor force at negotiated levels. No one could have figured that the automakers would opt to outsource anyway and pay the laid off workers too. Of course the media looks for the most sensational way to portray the situation and reports that auto companies have to pay lazy union workers to stay home. And the ‘crabs in a barrel’ public absolutely eat it up.

BTW, my previous mention of the factories being turned into munitions plants during WW2 was just a reminder that, God forbid, should the need arise we had better have a manufacturing capacity infrastructure that could be converted to produce the weapons of war such as was done in the 40s.

nameless

Studebaker won WW2 they they pulled chryslers,GM and fords through the battle field,that and Willys jeeps which contracted with Ford.

nowwthen

Studebaker huh? I thought it was, like, other stuff.

Lennie Pike

First On Race Day

gary2

fix or repair daily

denny

As part of a solution, does it ever cross anyone’s mind to work with other people to build something to survive the coming apocalypse by elites? Together we are far stronger than facing it alone, even if it’s simply organizing one’s neighborhood. The above advice is totally devoid of any form of collective effort.
Bring your family closer. There’s nothing wrong/failed with everyone living together. The elites love to reduce people to isolated units. We’re weaker that way and the elites believe we’ll buy more of their crap so we can ‘feel better’. To them, more crap means happiness. 2. Get to know your neighbors better. 3. Practice the human virtues of trust, compassion, love, charity, honesty, faith as in – our efforts will enable us to survive and thrive. 4. Turn off t.v. It’s full of lies, stereotypes and imagery which weakens us. Look closely at Madison Avenue’s image of the average American – seemingly helpless without their crap. 5. Stop buying corporate. Let’s weaken them for a change. They might even begin listening to our demands for a saner approach to life on our planet. Buy local whenever possible. 6. Seriously begin revamping your psychology. More is not necessarily better. Accumulation is not necessarily ‘success’. ‘Living large’ at this point is an obscenity. 7. Reject who the elites and corporations tell us our enemies are. We really don’t have any enemies, just people like ourselves who are trying to get by. If we do have enemies it’s the people telling us to hate and kill. It’s going to be a long path to true freedom and it certainly won’t always be easy. Good luck, work hard and trust each other!

mark

Our second half sounds like it not end well. The voters will not elect enough small government types to make any difference. We will keep on spending and fighting wars that will not end. Any cuts will not be enough to change our ecnomic path to ruin. We will spend until the world stops lending and then the Fed will keep on printing to make up the difference. Ron Paul has the spending side right but he will not win. To have any chance of long term growth our spending needs huge cuts and at the same time cut regulations and taxes. This will hurt in the short run but this is our only chance that might work. So spend your second half preparing a food storage so that you might have a little party after the game. Your life might depend on it as this train wreck coming towards us is not a game but is a real threat.

Paul

“-The U.S. economy has lost about 6 million jobs since 2008.”

Really? The East German economy lost 60% of its jobs after the take-over by West Germany in 1990/1991. Unemployment in some East German cities was over 80%. Graduates and qualified workers migrated to Western Germany or abroad. The far-right blamed the decline on a handful of migrants and burned down their houses. In 2011 a far-right death squad was uncovered that killed systematically foreigners from the region Jesus was coming from.
The East of Germany has now been purged of foreigners. And the few East Germans left are pensioners, sick and those taking care of them.

ken nohe

Thanks for the article. Clint Eastwood reminds us what is still great about America. But like a body with cancer, what is not is growing too fast and may soon overwhelm the rest. Nothing has been done to fix Wall Street in 4 years, worse, nothing seems possible. The weasel is in the hen-house and will slaughter everything even though when he’s done, he will starve to death. Can’t help it, it’s in its nature!
What is wrong is not debt or “derivatives”, these are just tools and there are very positive and useful ways to use them. It’s people. The people in charge today are the wrong ones who have been put in place by a so-called democratic system gone haywire. To change the outcome we would need to change the system and this won’t happen; it can’t because those in charge are the one who profit most from the current state of things. Nothing new under the sun I guess. This must be how civilizations prosper and then decline.

Martin

The new ads by Chrysler have a dark quality to them.

It is half-time in a rigged game. The opposition plays dirty, changes the rules mid stride, all penalties are called against us, no penalties for the scummy players that puck over the economy, the people and its nation.

The only thing I see coming is one gigantic post-game riot.

mondobeyondo

I like the Chrysler ads done by Eminem last year a little better. But that’s just me.

Paul

“Now is the time to grow a garden. ”

Well, it is still Winter. But Winter is the time to sharpen and to oil your tools and to do the planning.
You can start indoors with sowing in egg boxes and yoghurt cups.

Visit antique book shops to find gardening and farming books of those times when there was less machinery and less pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.

Pencil on paper still works when the smartphone fell into the puddle.

Sid Davis

I have a bleak view of the future. Powerful corporations are fully in control of our government through lobbying, political contributions, media control, and outright bribes of venal politicians, so there is somewhere close to zero chance that we can restore freedom at the voting booths. It is delusion to even attempt a democratic solution.

The federal government and quite a few State governments are bankrupt with little hope of ever paying their debts.

We are at the end of the oil age with no adequate energy source to replace it, and it was energy that allowed the human population of the earth to explode over the last 400 years from 1/2 billion up to 7 billion. Think about that since it took all of a long human history using renewable fuel to reach 1/2 billion.

The consequences of the current fascist economic slave system , the financial collapse, and the lack of energy to fuel the industrial age, are converging on this point in history, and will be horrific. Life expectancy will drop like the proverbial lead balloon.

The only cure for the present system of plunder and control is the end of the federal government which I fully expect will arrive in due time; there is no cure for the debt debacle except to let it collapse and turn to gold and silver coins as money with 100% reserve requirements for any deposit bank if even any bank arises from the ashes; but, there is no solution for the lack of energy to satisfy 7 billion hungry mouths, and those who intend to survive it better be positioned well independent of this collapsing system.

Ted

Well said Sid

Bone idle

Greece will not budge on any harsher austerity measures.
The Greek politicians know that the country is already on the Virge of serious civil unrest.

Merkel will cave in and give them a bailout. Even though she knows that Greece will require financial support forever and a day.
The consequences of snowball defaults are too serious to contemplate.

The Greek government is calling for a study into the consequences of default and collapse. Allegedly this is too show the Greek populace the fallout from default.

CL Walker

What Is the perspective on deal being cut on mortgage deal?
Most States signed on and screwed their residents. CA not giving in. Jail time required for banking fraudsters. What will be final impact on 99%?

chiller

Sinclair hit the nail on the head. It’s not about Greece, it’s about the CDS the banks are refusing to pay out in the event of a default. So rather than prosecuting the banks or letting them fail AS THEY SHOULD, they are all covering up the real reason for Greece’s continued bailouts…GREED!

http://goldenladyfun.blogspot.com Pat

How do you all feel about the news that Wells Fargo Bank is no longer accepting cash for mortgage payments? I have some information about how to protect your assets on my blog here: goldenladyfun.blogspot.com

Antonio Gonzalez

Americans only think about bussines, you can change it.

Lennie Pike

Not many like to hear the truth and dislike the messenger instead – tough.

The truth is America is in overtime and was only able to get there by cheating.

Also we are not the same people we were 30 or 40 years ago – you could tell that by what the half-time show was. Maybe 50% of Americans have the same character they used to have but they are not enough, and without kicking out the criminals who run this country and who have almost finished destroying it, there is zero chance.

The globalists (Congress, the Supreme Court, the Executive Branch, ESPECIALLY THE fEDERAL rESERVE, wall street, the cfl – the dark side in other words, had a good laugh at Clint at least.

Radon person

I loved this article too and also that unusual commercial….(i hate car commercials,they are dumb)

Huuum…anyway…i really would like to know about the situation in my country(portugal)and i can only trust in you because other’s news are so much to propaganda…horrible…

Mark

Michael – Great blog. Have been reading it for months. I have greatly reduced spending in my home, but the expenses keep going up. There is just no way to save – no matter how hard you try. I have been reading and keeping up with the experts and agree with most of what you write. Sometimes, it just feels like the hope for preparing for a bad future isn’t possible. Not when you make $450/week, and the electric bill is $183/month. That’s with power strips shutting power down on all electronics while we are out of the hose during the day. CT is a crazy expensive state, and moving out of it isn’t an option anymore. Do you have ANY advice for those who want to save cash, but just CAN’T cut anymore corners to save?

Michael

Mark:

I can definitely understand where you are coming from. The cost of basics such as food and electricity just keep going up.

Once you have cut everything that you can cut, my advice would be to try to come up with some ways to bring in some more income. It could even be something as simple as selling things on Craigslist or Ebay for profit.

Michael

Kimberly

Hi mark! I find for me…. I save lots of money with food. I make a meal plan for the month and buy all the ingredients I need with coupons and sales flyers. It helps a lot. Hope that helps.

007

There is no need to worry about inflation. Bernanke assures us it is “subdued” and in fact he needs to print some more money to inflation up to his target.

TX4Life

Mark:

Look at grocery stores in low income neighborhoods. I know for a fact that some grocery stores in low income neighborhoods are receiving federal subsidies to lower the cost of some grocery items. You just have to find the ones that do. You can usually tell by looking at their produce department prices because the subsidies are supposed to help low income families eat healthier. Their meat and other products will be cheaper also. In Texas, some HEB’s receive these subsidies but only ones in very low income areas. Use the savings to stock up.

xander cross

@Mark. Try unpluging all of your appliances at night, except the alarm clock and refrigiator at night. Unplug the TV, Stero, Microwave, and I ensure you, your light bill will come down a lot.

igotadose

What aren’t you telling us? I lived fine in NYC on $800/month back in the day. When you say ‘we are out of the house, is we, you and a spouse? Does the spouse work and contribute? Electronics? Do you *need* them, versus want them/gotta have them/… How many cars do you have? Do you need a car?

$183/month for electric seems high – but you’re earning $450/week, and most electric companies have plans. And, is $450/week take home, or gross? A single person should be able to subsist o.k. on that in the NYC area, perhaps sharing an apartment.

Sorry, usually when you see these ‘poor me’ entries, you’re not hearing all the details.

http://windturbinescost.info Wind Turbines

Living in the USA is not the same as in the 1950´s (our pinnacle IMO).

What a shame we’ve given this country away to the bankers, wall street, corporations their ceo’s basically the Have’s. We should be in the streets furious in front of their houses bringing the poor to their doorsteps, but no we keep getting burdened down and down the sheep continue to follow and and when we can’t pay an interest rate or the overcharge or the rent they make US FEEL GUILTY and WE BUY IT !

What a shame we have bought into the myth and in return greed has taken over. For such a “devout” country we seem to gloss over what Jesus said “if you have two coats and your neighbor has none give em’ one” (paraphrase) HUH ? I dare to say a very socialist viewpoint.

Medicaid, Medicare, help for the poor is such an anathema now to this upright Christian country. Surely Jesus is smiling down on us. Hypocrites and we know what He had to say about them…

Chris

You’re absolutely right. Jesus does want us to help our neighbors. NOT THE GOVERNMENT.
Christians should be taking care of their own. Inside the church. If a fellow Christian is in need, every other able Christian should go out of their way to help them.
In no way should that Christian, or anyone else, need to look to the government for a handout. That is where America went wrong. (Well, one of the ways but I don’t have time to write a book about the others).

MichaelR

“This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Ya, it’s halftime in America, and our second half is about to begin”

I Like what Jay Leno said last night: ” It’s halftime America and we’re down $15 trillion and China has the ball.”

I’m surprized you didn’t mention the GM ad that predicted the end of the world:

To survive you don’t need G & S , stored food, a gun and ammo. You need a chevy truck.

http://www.youtube.com/aNYCdj Richard Allen

Michael:

Love the blog, we have to really seriously ask these questions, and the MSM has been avoiding it for so long.

The question i pose is how much can we really reduce expenses without living like a hermit?

The daily costs to exist have gone up a lot and what we need today we didn’t need even 10 years ago.

Being mobile and wireless was a luxury, we got by just fine with a landline and the USPO for 100 years, now fortune 500 companies like Clear Channel want you to have a recent mac air with Legal software like Final Cut.. you have to prove it!!!..before they will hire you for a no pay intern….actually its Negative pay, you have to pay for your own lunch and transportation where a few years ago Interns were trained on the companies old computers.

Obahmacare was some wrong headed screw up, all we needed to do was get people like me covered WE are the needy I’m too rich for welfare but too poor to have my own health coverage…

Buy allowing millions to live mortgage free and not getting serious with the deadbeat homeowners, our rents are probably 20-25% higher then it should be and by realtors keeping houses off the market allowing them to get vandalized, and rot away with no AC on in summer in the south. and freeze in the north

All adds up to a higher monthly cost then ever before So how will anyone save up for a deposit on a home??? Let along get a car if the job is 250 miles away. Im lucky i have a car even in NYC but lots of people here never drove in their lives, so are they going to take the job say in Memphis if their company closes and moves there??? What a major life change for them.

I also got into big arguments with the idiots who were calling OWS bums lazy get a job good they kicked them out..I said they are your future Home buyers, and if they have poor paying jobs & tons of student debt they will never have the money to buy your house so you can retire to Florriddah, that usually shut them up fast.

—-
Now is the time to reduce your expenses.

Michael

I know a lot of household budgets are super tight right now.

But I know that there have always been little luxuries in my life that I could have cut out.

I would estimate that at least 90% of Americans should be able to reduce their expenses without losing out on any necessities.

Michael

ed

It’s half time in America and we are down 15 trillion points.It’s more like game over.

http://www.youtube.com/thepreparedpastor Prepared Pastor

It is ironic that no part of that commercial was actually shot in Detroit. The Detroit scenes are all stock.

I used to advise people to get out of debt, but now I think it is too late in the game. Convert secured debt to unsecured debt, buy an old but reliable pickup truck for cash, and borrow against your retirement and pay cash for rural land held in trust. If you had put food storage on your credit card two years ago, it would still be cheaper to pay the interest than to buy it today. Once you can provide your family with water, food, clothing, shelter, and safety then start systematically paying down debt.

It will do you little good to be the one with good credit, but no tangible assets when the bubble bursts.

mark

You do not know when a collaspe will happen. Do not go into debt right now. You can start by stocking up on rice and beans. A 25 pound bag of rice is around $10 and a 25 pound bag of beans has gone up to aroubd $20. Cut out a few coffee’s and it is paid for. Stock up on a few items each week and before long you will have a food storage without going into debt.

REED RICHARDS

mark,

Beans and Rice for two years in a row! Sounds like groundhog day Mardi Gras will never end.

Sorry, mark, amerika is finished and there is no stopping the comming collapse………..

Surfer

Yes, it was memorable. Especially the part about how they “found a way” when there was no way out to make it work in Detroit – that way included breaking US bankruptcy laws in the “bailout” of GM. How very proud we must all be of that. We should also be proud how we “all came together” to do this. We all cheered on the government of this bailout, didn’t we! In fact, we’re all still celebrating it! Woot! And lastly, lets not understate how we “fixed Detroit” …. or, well, actually they only bailed out GM. That ad was a joke. We’re all supposed to get happy and rally together over a pile of lies? No thanks. This country isn’t at halftime. We’re not in the locker room – we’re still out playing the game. There are no halftimes in life!

Desmond

If Eastwood was running for president, I would agree it is halftime. With the clowns we have running in both major parties, it’s more like game over.

karen

My daughter and her husband went to H%R Block last week to have their taxes done, my daughter is very keen to what is happening to this country,she asked the tax person a question concerning banks and no money the person was very honest with her and told her that H#R blocks bank had no funds but they would hopfully get their refund and people should file as soon as they can because the later refunds would be a type of IOU, and there is no rapid refunds this year because of money matters and in less than 28 days the the extended tax laws will come to a halt. So there is no garentee you will get your refund, check this out in your neck of the woods.

On point op-ed, thanks for the link. This says it all: “But to sustain deadbeats, others have to pay their bills on time. And, after a while, people who pay their bills on time start to feel like suckers. I think we’ve reached that point now:

* People who pay their mortgages – often at considerable personal sacrifice – see others who didn’t bother get special assistance.

* People who took jobs they didn’t particularly want just to pay the bills see others who didn’t getting extended unemployment benefits.

* People who took risks to build their businesses and succeeded see others, who failed, getting bailouts. It rankles at all levels.”

We are nearing a point of no return. Those who feel entitled to that which they did not earn are nearing a majority. Meanwhile, the big banks and corporations, in league with the political elites, are gaming the system. Sooner or later something has to give.

I also thought the Clint Eastwood add was amazing. But leave it to MSM to put a political spin on it.As long as sheeple continue to listen to MSM our country is truely going down! God be with us all.

karen

People did you know that all those social networking site’s that people put everything they do in there the CIA,OSI,FBI, collect everything on you,and they will use it against you at some point and time. this article will show you. Reuteres US Targets Food Stamp Fraud as Election Looms, USDA adds social media, data mining to enforce tools.

William

It is too late. The USA is already over the precipice. Get used to the word “austerity”.
Economic recovery?? Do you really believe the BLS numbers on inflation and unemployment??
Got Gold/silver?? The value of a dollar in a CD is dropping by 10% each year. Yeah, Bernanke!!

knightowl77

You can watch for 100s of events and a black swan event comes along and makes it all meaningless….Prepare for we know not when the collapse will happen….it may be slow and lingering for years….and then finally collapse in a confrontation with Iran, or with Russia over Syria….it could be our own Fukishima in Kalifornia…This world is so dependent and interconnected that a disaster half way around the world can trigger what we worry about…
These are perilous times and none of us have any ideas how many different wolves are stocking us at this time…
Collapse can and probably will come from something we are not watching or not watching closely….Continue to put off vacations and dinners out, or even a new CD until you feel you are ready for whatever may come…

May God Bless You All (even Gary2)

JAH666

Thanks, Michael, for this great article. It is with the greatest hope that we can save this nation in the ‘second half’.
Echoing justamom and reiterating a note I sent your way yesterday, what can we expect to be other trigger events that will precipitate the accelleration of events toward the collapse that is coming? My wife and I have taken many precautions and our preperations are ongoing, but we have a daughter that lives in a large city about three hours away. We want to give her a heads up when the SHTF so she can ‘bug out’ and head for relative safety here.
We’ll keep reading and spreding the word – you stay safe!

Michael

I think that the epicenter of this next “wave” is going to be in Europe.

So keep an eye on what is happening over there.

And when you hear things like “this is 2008 all over again” in the mainstream media, you will know that the hour is late.

Michael

blueridgeviews

Nowhere does it mention that Fiat owns Chrysler. How much taxpayer money was thrown down that hole?

Michael D

Let’s get this straight please. 5.6 million jobs were lost in 2007 and 2.6 million jobs in 2008. Bush gave bailouts in October of 2008 to the tune of some 700 billion dollars. Some of that went to the auto industry.
When will people realize this is no longer about Republicans or Democrats. This is about a system that no longer works. Like the ad says, we need to band together as one. Not be consistently divided by partisan politics.
And by the way, I was a Republican all my life until 2005. Too many things happened that year that sent me to Independent. I did not vote for Obama.

Patriot One

Its all propaganda and Eastwood was played like a pawn. If he really thinks we are back I’ll sell him a Chevrolet Volt that can’t even go 26 miles on a full charge.

I like Eastwood, but taken in context with the State of the Union and BO’s interview before the game it was a lie.

Its like telling a terminal patient he’s cured a week before he dies. Its false and misleading.

A lie, is a lie, it doesn’t matter who is telling the lie.

dunster

Obama is the greatest President ever. He will buy you a Volt if you want it. It is almost like it’s free. Why pay for something when you can get it from other people for free. That’s really being smart. I voted for Obama and I will vote for him again. He is truly a genius and has helped things. Just think where we would be without him. I can’t imagine how bad it would be. My eyes have been opened to the possibilities of hope and change. I’m just giddy with delight!!!

McKinley Morganfield

And your gas tank is magically filled, your mortgage paid, and prime steak & lobster put on the table by the wave of the messiah’s wand.

mondobeyondo

George W. Bush wasn’t half bad though. I have to thank him for giving me that $300 stimulus check in the mail back in 2006. It paid my electric bill.

Marc

Ummm, more like 2-minute warning in the 4th quarter.

Bob Marshall

I think because of so much arrogance and ignorance by millions, America is in the fourth quarter. Too many citizens still depend of government assistance. Most don’t want Social Security, Medicare, and Medicad, touched because of so much fear instilled into them by the White house controlled news media and want an ever larger industrial military complex.Ronald Reagan said, “If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have.”

chris

First I would like to say I love your site. It is my required morning reading and a constant reference for me. But I don’t appreciate a PSA on getting our stuff in order coming from a company that was a failure who took billions of dollars in bailouts (1.3 billion of which will never be recovered). I also find it rather hypocritical that Clint Eastwood didn’t support the bailouts when they happened. This ad was as big of a slap in the face as the GE commercial talking about domestic jobs, when in reality they are one of the biggest culprits when it comes to exporting jobs out of the country.

Colin

Excellent insight. Spot on.

mondobeyondo

Yes, it is halftime. And our team is down, 54-7. Is there hope? There is always hope. But it’s looking pretty gloomy for the “We’re #1!!” crowd.

Our team had better come out kicking butt and taking names later, in the second half. In the meantime, while Madonna is entertaining the world, here’s a few pointers:

We need to hire a new offensive coordinator. Like, right freaking NOW. Right here, on the spot. Our offense is non-existent. No productivity. No world class manufacturing. No offensive production? Game over. Who do we pick? Hillary Clinton? Joe Biden? How about Ben Bernanke? (no way!!)

Defense? Oh yeah, we excel in that! Well, kind of… Nuclear weapons and battleships are powerful deterrents against nations, but they aren’t very effective against some jihadist willing to blow himself or herself up to support “the cause”.

Special teams: Admirable. They’ve blocked field goal attempt after field goal attempt against the “terrorists”. (That’s what the mass media tells you, anyway).

Coach Obama? Should he be fired? Depends on how well he can lead this team. If he somehow pulls out a win, he could be coach for the next 4 years. If not – hire someone else.

Okay, Madonna’s done with her song and dance routine! Now, let’s get back onto the field, and show the world we are still a great team!!

GoneWithTheWind

Do not forget the billions used to bail out GM and Chrysler. hardly a testiment to self reliance and making a comeback.
Also the very idea that anyone could cite Detroit as a success is crazy. You can buy a house in Detroit for next to nothing so go do it and live there for awhile then tell me how great Detroit is.

Donny

Clit Eastwood is an old has been dried up *****************************!!!

mondobeyondo

Um, I wouldn’t go head to head against Clint Eastwood and a .44 Magnum.

“Do you feel lucky, punk? Ha? Do ya?”

Lennie Pike

I’m afraid the only solution to this country’s problems is going to be for some “heads to ***********************”.

What else can they do but kick the can until the road reaches the detour to the abyss?

Nostradamus

Fiat gutsy Italian CEO bought a bankrupt Chrysler 2 years ago. The sentiment at the time was – this guy is both a fool and a dreamer in fantasyland. And we don’t care selling Chrysler to a nobody like Fiat, who doesn’t even sell cars in the US, buying piece of junk that even the Mercedes Benz couldn’t fix.

Who are the fools – Fiat or the American people at large?

For Fiat, it was half-time in 2009 and it called the shot. But the great challenge was not just calling the shot – paid billions to buy a bankrupt company. It was how to fix it. You can’t get as un-American as Fiat in business culture. Which is why Fiat fixed Chrysler.

As to America fixing itself, it is also quite simple. America has to abandon much of Americanism of the past 2 decades. But everybody wants recovery. What they are saying is – they want to recover back to the kind of culture that produced the current mess. Just look around, look at everything. Everything remains the same at its core. Even the stupid politics.

So you see this is precisely why there won’ be a ‘recovery’. Until America experiences what happened to Chrysler 2 years ago.

Trouble is: there is not ‘Fiat’ for a whole country.

chow

It’s a good commercial but we have to understand that Chrysler is an Italian company. It was sold to FIAT after receiving the OBAMA BAILOUT. Way I see it Chrysler is employing people in the USA which is good but profits goes to the Italians which is not so good. Besides majority of parts for any US assembled vehicles are imported. That’s where majority of our US manufacturing went and that’s why we have high unemployment.

comnenus

Don’t worry. America owns the umpires/referees/officials.

It can kill a game,take away a perfect game, or extend the game as long as it pleases.

As Stalin has said it perfectly, “It doesn’t matter who gets the most votes! It does matter who counts the votes.”

http://economic a.p.

I’m a US Postal Service worker and have been buying only American made products for over a year now. It takes a concentrated effort, oodles of time and research, and of course extra cash. But I have to, otherwise my conscience won’t let me sleep at night, knowing
that I didn’t do my best to keep America from
becoming Dead on Arrival (DOA). If everybody just spent $32 a month on American made goods, we would create 2 millionn jobs–that’s more than any politician or cowboy actor can create.

McKinley Morganfield

a.p.

I’m with you. Over the last 20 years I have never, not even once, shopped at wally mart, etc. I patronize local businesses only and never buy products made in Asia. My food is either home grown of from local farmers. The sole exception is gasoline. Bring it all back home. Otherwise, you are a hypocrite.

Charles

I thought it was a real touchstone and connected with what is on everyone’s mind. Unfortunatley buying or leasing a car will not get us back on our feet, it will dig us in deeper. Yet when you look and listen at Clint, we see the shadow of how we use to be:tough, lean and able. For that you have to take a step back and appreciate it for what it is.

Lennie Pike

Our coach has made a bet that we lose the game, and so has the team’s owners who have either paid off the referees or threatened to kill them.

karen

of War You Must Be Deaf”
Henry Kissinger: “If You Can’t Hear the Drums of War You Must Be Deaf”
By Alfred Heinz 27/11/2011 09:40:00
Font size:

Henry Kissinger, the most famous living practitioner of international statecraft
NEW YORK – USA – In a remarkable admission by former Nixon era Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, reveals what is happening at the moment in the world and particularly the Middle East.

Speaking from his luxurious Manhattan apartment, the elder statesman, who will be 89 in May, is all too forward with his analysis of the current situation in the world forum of Geo-politics and economics.

“The United States is bating China and Russia, and the final nail in the coffin will be Iran, which is, of course, the main target of Israel. We have allowed China to increase their military strength and Russia to recover from Sovietization, to give them a false sense of bravado, this will create an all together faster demise for them. We’re like the sharp shooter daring the noob to pick up the gun, and when they try, it’s bang bang. The coming war will will be so severe that only one superpower can win, and that’s us folks. This is why the EU is in such a hurry to form a complete superstate because they know what is coming, and to survive, Europe will have to be one whole cohesive state. Their urgency tells me that they know full well that the big showdown is upon us. O how I have dreamed of this delightful moment.”

“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.”

Mr Kissinger then added: “If you are an ordinary person, then you can prepare yourself for war by moving to the countryside and building a farm, but you must take guns with you, as the hordes of starving will be roaming. Also, even though the elite will have their safe havens and specialist shelters, they must be just as careful during the war as the ordinary civilians, because their shelters can still be compromised.”

After pausing for a few minutes to collect his thoughts, Mr Kissinger, carried on: “We told the military that we would have to take over seven Middle Eastern countries for their resources and they have nearly completed their job. We all know what I think of the military, but I have to say they have obeyed orders superfluously this time. It is just that last stepping stone, i.e. Iran which will really tip the balance. How long can China and Russia stand by and watch America clean up? The great Russian bear and Chinese sickle will be roused from their slumber and this is when Israel will have to fight with all its might and weapons to kill as many Arabs as it can. Hopefully if all goes well, half the Middle East will be Israeli. Our young have been trained well for the last decade or so on combat console games, it was interesting to see the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 game, which mirrors exactly what is to come in the near future with its predictive programming. Our young, in the US and West, are prepared because they have been programmed to be good soldiers, cannon fodder, and when they will be ordered to go out into the streets and fight those crazy Chins and Russkies, they will obey their orders. Out of the ashes we shall build a new society, there will only be one superpower left, and that one will be the global government that wins. Don’t forget, the United States, has the best weapons, we have stuff that no other nation has, and we will introduce those weapons to the world when the time is right.”

End of interview. Our reporter is ushered out of the room by Kissinger’s minder.

Terry R

If you Americans weren’t such total cowards maybe you wouldn’t be in this lot. You watched for decades as 40 million third world poor invaded your country. You watched for decades as your country went trillions in debt ruining your currency and your economy. If you want to see who is responsible for what is happening go look in the mirror

Colin

Michael

By endorsing Chrysler you lost a shade of credibility for writing this. BTW: Ford makes a far superior product. Your argument against it NOT being an endorsement of the bailouts was weak at best. Why did the ad not endorse a company who didn’t take the bailout?? Its easy to see, follow the money…….

With that said, I appreciate there are people like you out there who are bringing up these topics like you do.

Michael

Colin:

Well, I guess I have a soft spot for Chrysler because I used to own one. It was a great car.

Michael

Colin

My Ford has 227,000 miles on it (its been the only car I’ve owned which also makes me biased). Bought it for $500 in a county auction and haven’t looked back. With front end work, brake pads, new tires, oil changes, etc I’m trying to get 500,000 miles out of it.

Keep up the work man.

Lennie Pike

Not playing oneupsmanship but my ’95 F-150 inline 6 cylinder’s got 361,000. No permanent parts ever replaced, runs like new, and burns less than 1/2 quart oil every 5,000 miles.

Have not had to fix or repair it daily – ever.

Emma

Michael,

How will the other countries across the globe be affected by this? What will happen to the BRIC countries?

Can you elaborate on the trickle-down effect?

Michael

Emma:

In 2008, the financial crisis started on Wall Street but the entire globe went into a recession.

We will see a similar thing happen next time, only this next one will start in Europe I believe.

Michael

007

I though the ad was insulting and a slap in the face of the American public. We bailed them out with billions of dollars. The union thugs made a killing and everyone else got screwed. They never paid back the taxpayers. Then they have the nerve to air a $7,000,000 ad telling us to pull together. Their hipcracy knows no bounds.

Gay Veteran

“union thugs” are hard working Americans

JukrJointJimme

Oxymoron much?

Roger taxpayer

Yep. All Obama’s fault. Never mind that the role of the Congress is to set fiscal policy, nor that two wars on a borrowed dime from China and the greed and loathing on wall street have anything to do with where this country is today.

I didn’t vote for him, and I’m not a democrat, but I know enough about 7th grade US politics to know that it is the fault of our congressional representatives more so thanany president we are where we are today.

gary2

All the low info right wing likes to blame Obama. It makes sence as a study out of Canada recently showed conservatives to be of lower cognitave ability then the general population.

Conservatives like and understand only simple explanations like “its Obama’s fault”. They are not able to grasp complex ideas. Sorry conservatives this is a factual study and you are not as smart as liberals. This is why they are so easily manipulated by fox news and rush.

We did not need a study to know this, however, now that we have one no one can dispute it.

gary3

You mean as in the ‘It’s all the Bush administration’s fault’ that is at the US helm now? I guess that you are a ‘highbrow’ dem or you are on welfare. In any case, projection is the art of the left, and you have tipped your hand, sir.

DTC

Hello Micheal,
I had to said that you are a super great guy that supplies all good and accurate information and up to date. i am a reader of your blog daily. Please let me know what I should do with my pension and 401K because I just lost my job last month, but we had our businesses to run. Thank you.

Michael

DTC:

Thank you for the kind words. I don’t give our specific financial advice, but if you lost your job then you are going to have to do what you need to do to survive until you can find another one.

Michael

Alasha

Keep your spirits up DTC and always remember the important things in life. God Bless!

gary2

Isn’t Clint like 112 years old?

Alasha

lol!

liverock

Never mind about Clint Eastwood,how the hell do you understand American Football Rules?
The Patriots had to let the Giants have an unopposed free touchdown in order for them to have any chance of winning!

What kind of a game is it that has cockeyed rules like that?

Concerned Johny Foreigner!!

BuffaL0_Bill

it ain;t no half time.

we are into the 2 minute warning.

S.Quade

Half Time in America; We Need a New Quarterback

If you are keeping score at home it’s Chrysler $12.5 billion, NBC $12 million, with a taxpayer loss of $133 billion. Oh, and the city of Detroit is just minutes away, literally, from being more broke than Greece.
Look, I’m a sucker for marketing as much as the next guy, but I have a lot of friends who were rightly outraged by Chrysler’s political ad for the auto bailout that starred Clint Eastwood and aired at halftime on NBC during the Super Bowl. It was more than just the subverted boosterism for Obama that was outrageous. There were many levels of outrage for even discriminating tastes.
If you missed it, the commercial was a two-minute, Chamber of Commerce-type pitch for more government money to make America great, with, um, Detroit leading the way.
Sure; technically, it was well-produced with compelling visual images and the iconic narrative voice of Clint Eastwood. The TV time alone cost Chrysler $12 million.
Chrysler came up $1.3 billion short paying the US Treasury, but they have money for junk-food like Super Bowl commercials.
And it almost made me want to believe. But as Yahoo Autos points out: “There’s no better example of the difference between sentiment and sentimentality, and just how many of us no longer notice.”
Because unfortunately, I’ve looked under the hood of the Detroit/Chrysler story the filmmakers are selling and this one’s a lemon.
“I’ve always been very liberal when it comes to people thinking for themselves,” Eastwood told the Los Angeles Times back in November, “But I’m a big hawk on cutting the deficit. I was against the stimulus thing too. We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies. If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO.”
Think for ourselves, except when you are pitching policies you disagreed with three months ago?
For those with a less acute political and financial antenna, let’s make this simple:
It was bad enough that we bailed out private corporations. It’s even worse that those bailouts tended to favor Obama’s biggest donors in 2008- financial services and unions. The latest inspector general report says the bailout losses so far equal about $133 billion, with about 19 percent of that loss coming from the automotive industry. Over time, some of that money may be recouped, but total losses are expected to be from $50 billion to $75 billion, and they could be higher. The total bailout cost for automakers is expected to be about $25 billion.
“Look at me. I’ve had to make films for less money or go out and find my own money,” Eastwood said in the Times article in response to the reporter’s pro-bailout pushback. “On ‘Mystic River,’ I had to cut my salary and everyone else’s to get it made. I know the score. If I start to grind out two or three turkeys, I’ll be unemployed, just like anyone else.”
Well, not everyone.
Despite the “Happy Days are Here Again” theme song coming from automakers GM and Chrysler, both companies are deeply broke. If they weren’t, the US Treasury wouldn’t be looking at losses of $25 billion for the bailouts.
But for the politically connected here in the USA there are always bailouts or some such federal program that will take care of unions, or banks, or green energy companies, or federal contractors like GE, Fannie Mae, GM and Chrysler.
That’s why the Eastwood ad resonated with Democrats from David Axelrod, to Obama’s Michigan campaign.
From the CSMonitor:
“Another great Chrysler ad – the US auto industry is back,” tweeted the Michigan branch of Mr. Obama’s reelection campaign following its broadcast just prior to the second-half kickoff.
David Axelrod, once and (likely future) top political aide to Obama’s national campaign, added this tweet: “Powerful spot. Did Clint shoot that, or just narrate it?”
So to add a little more salt to taxpayers’ wounds, football fans, whose only partisan worries at halftime of the Super Bowl should be Giants vs. Patriots, bathroom vs. Madonna, have to watch our tax dollars fund one of the main themes coming out of Obama’s reelection campaign: “The US auto industry is back thanks to my generous donation to their campaign- if you don’t believe me, you’ll believe Clint Eastwood.”
And… oh, by the way… Detroit, the City That’s Back, according to Chrysler, is on the verge of bankruptcy because of: 1) shrinking population due to mismanagement in the auto industry and 2) public unions are out of control.
“The fiscal crisis in the city that has lost a quarter of its population since 2000 is coming to a head,” reports Bloomberg. “The state is combing Detroit’s books for evidence of financial emergency. Meanwhile, Democratic Mayor Dave Bing is racing to wrest concessions from 48 bargaining units to erase a $200 million deficit in the home of General Motors Co. and the cradle of the U.S. auto industry. Otherwise, the city of 714,000 dominated by Democrats may face a Republican-appointed manager with authority to sell assets and nullify contracts. State Treasurer Andy Dillon has said Detroit will run out of cash by May, and called for concessions by early February.”
Ohmygosh! A Republican? Balancing the books without a bailout?
Look, Detroit’s been in crisis for decades, not a few years, and the culprit is unions, unions, unions.
So let’s sum up what the taxpayers got for the $12 million commercial produced by Chrysler: A great visual experience, filmed in two entirely different cities than the subject city, with a wonderful narration by Eastwood about policies that he doesn’t agree with, pushing a message about a car company and the city of Detroit that isn’t true in any factual or even literary sense.
See? That’s proof that it has to be an Obama campaign commercial.
But here’s why we are really offended: Because if this commercial represents halftime in America, we need a new quarterback.